News

The government has taken measures to provide relief to the farmers for the crop damage caused by the fall Armyworm. 
 
The Minister of Agriculture, P. Harrison said the Ministry of Agriculture has allocated a sum of Rs 50 million to compensate for the damage caused by the caterpillar infestation.
 
The maize and sugar cane cultivation in Anuradhapura, Ampara and Monaragala has been badly damaged by due to the caterpillar infestation.
 
Minister P. Harrison engaged in a tour of the Nachchaduwa area in Anuradhapura yesterday to firsthand observe the infestation and evaluate the damage to the crops, especially paddy fields.
 
Speaking to media following the tour, the Minister said the Agriculture Ministry has taken steps to control the fall armyworm infestation by natural as well as chemical methods and has introduced three types of chemicals.
 
Secretary to the Agriculture Ministry KDS Ruwanchandra said Sri Lanka, as well as other countries, has not been able to completely eliminate the fall armyworm infestation but the insect can be controlled with the chemicals introduced by the Ministry and the Ministry is taking the maximum effort to prevent the caterpillar infestation.
 
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in the larval stage, the FAW causes damage to crops, feeding on more than 80 plant species. Although the caterpillar primarily attacks maize, it can also destroy rice and sorghum as well as cotton and some vegetables and up to 1000 acres in one day.
 
The moth can fly up to 100 km per night and the female moth can lay up to 200 eggs at one time. The suppression of the insect was a challenge to every country they were reported, due to their ability to quickly adapt to insecticides.
 
The Agriculture Department recommends a combined application of chemical and natural methods as soon as the caterpillar infestation is observed. (Colombo Page)

President Maithripala Sirisena is said to have forced the National Police Commission to cancel transfers of 72 OIC’s made recently. The transfers were made to replace 72 OIC’s that were promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police on October 25. 
 
While the NPC is in charge of ordering the transfers in the Police (Other than that of the IGP) the President nor the Secretary to the Minister has no power to influence the decisions made by the authority. 
 
The NPC is an independent commission and therefore the President’s arbitrary action has jeopardized the independence and impartiality of the commission. Sources say this action would once again constitute of the President acting in an unconstitutional manner. It is believed the President may be attempting to appoint those loyal to him within the Police force to the vacant positions. 
 
It must be noted that Sirisena earlier attempted to transfer one of the lead investigators IP Nishantha Silva of the CID in an illegal manner but was only prevented when the NPC reversed the illegal action.

Details have emerged of senior Sri Lankan naval officers planning to harm the chief investigator and key witness in high profile cases of abduction, torture and extrajudicial killings.

Investigators of the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) have discovered the details following the arrest of two navy intelligence officers.

NMW Janaka and ASN Tony arrested at the Colombo Fort magistrate court premises on 20 December, for acting in a suspicious manner, have told CID investigators that they were sent by a chief naval intelligence official to spy on Inspector of Police Nishantha Silva and those who provided evidence against navy officers.

The two arrested naval intelligence officers have alleged that they were detailed by Director Naval Intelligence, Captain Sanjeewa Premaratne.

“This is a sinister plot to assassinate the investigator and key witness as credible evidence have emerged of those in top most places in the navy being involved in mass crimes,” said an official familiar with ongoing investigations.

Police Inspector Silva briefing Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake of the findings had told that the navy spies were involved in a plan to kill him.

The inspector is the lead investigator for several high-profile cases of serious crimes where senior military and navy officers have been named as suspects.

In one case of abducting, torturing and forcibly disappearing 11 males, the key suspects are high ranking navy officers.Many of them have been released on bail and reinstated by the navy with promotions.

The country’s top military officer Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne who allegedly assisted a suspect to avoid arrest and threatened a witness with death has also been released on bail.

A key witness speaking to JDS under strict condition of anonymity said that the admiral and several other officers who have access to sophisticated surveillance equipment and lethal weapons pose a grave threat.

“One suspect Sumith Ranasinghe was promoted to the post of commodore after his release. Although he is in charge of land operations, former navy commander Sirimevan Ranasinghe by a confidential letter has requested directors loyal to him to deploy Ranasinghe in intelligence. He is given an armed security and has the facility to spy on telephone conversations of navy officers who gave evidence against him.”

Top officer questioned

The CID had also questioned Director Naval Land Operations, Rear Admiral Udeni Indranatha Serasinghe on December 2 about giving promotions to suspect officers under bail conditions.

Investigators have learned that orders was given by Chief of Defence Staff Ravindra Wijegunaratne, Former Navy Commanders Wasantha Karannagoda and Sirimevan Ranasinghe.

In a two hour long confidential testimony to the Fort magistrate on the same day, a key naval witness had provided details into the torture and disappearance of the 11 males abducted in the suburbs of Colombo.

Lieutenant Commander Krishan Welagedara had also told the magistrate of threats to him by suspects released on bail.

Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake had directed the CID to request court to withdraw the bail order if adequate evidence can be found of the suspect navy officers posing a threat to witness.

The president's hand

Earlier, efforts by President Maithripala Sirisena to remove Nishantha Silva from investigations on the request of Admiral Wijegunaratne failed due to an outcry by local and international rights activists.

Several navy, army and police officers including those of intelligence units have been named as suspects in the assassination of Sunday Leader Founding Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, abduction and torture of The Nation Former Deputy Editor Keith Noyahr, assault on 'Rivira' Former Editor Upali Tennakoon and his wife, abduction and disappearance of Journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda and the killing of rugby star Wasim Thajudeen.

Nishantha Silva is the chief investigator in most of those cases. (JDS Lanka)

The Tamil National Alliance will not seek redress from courts over the post of opposition leader sources within the party said. The party was in a tussle over the post with UPFA MP Mahinda Rajapaksa who was named by the Speaker as Opposition Leader on December 18 despite objections. 
 
The TNA maintained that its leader R. Sampanthan remained as Opposition leader as Rajapaksa had obtained the membership of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, a party that did not contest the last General Election, thereby cancelling his parliamentary membership according to the constitution. 
 
However, TNA sources say they believe another party or individual may file a case against the appointment of Rajapaksa as opposition leader in the coming days.

Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva after assuming office as the 23rd Commander of the Navy, visited Kandy and paid homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic at the Temple of the Tooth yesterday (05). Further, the new Navy Commander called on the Mahanayakes of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters to receive their blessings. 
 
The Navy Commander first called on the Mahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter, the Most Venerable Thibbotuwawa Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera and the Mahanayake of the Asgiriya Chapter, the Most Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thera to receive their blessings. The Mahanayake Theros invoked the blessings of the Triple Gem on the new Navy Commander and delivered a brief ‘Anushasana’ wishing him strength and courage to carry out the duties entrusted to him. Vice Admiral Silva, paying obeisance to the Mahanayake Theros, offered them ‘Atapirikara’ and expressed his heartfelt gratitude for their wise counsel.
 
Thereafter, he visited the Temple of the Tooth and met the Diyawadana Nilame, Mr. Pradeep Nilanga Dela Bandara. Vice Admiral Silva placed his signature in the visitors’ book and presented the Diyawadana Nilame a special memento, after sharing a light moment with the Chief Custodian of Sri Dalada Maligawa.

Newly appointed Governors for five provincial councils were sworn in before President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat today (04). 

Accordingly, the new set of appointments are as follows :  

Mr. Azad Sally– Western Province

Mr. Satendra Maithri Gunaratne- Central Province

Mr. Sarath Ekanayake- North Central Province

Mr. Peshala Jayarathna Bandara- North Western Province

Mr. M. L. A. M. Hizbullah- Eastern Province

President Maithripala Sirisena had earlier requested the previous Provincial Governors to submit their resignation by the end of 201.

The final vote for the 2019 National Budget will be on the April 4, the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media has announced.

The Ministry sources said the Appropriation Act for 2019 will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval following which it will be presented to the Parliament by Minister Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera on February 5.
 
The Ministry also said the second reading of the Budget will be held on March 5 while the third reading will be held on March 13.  The National Budget for 2019 will be presented as a Budget mainly based on performance, the Ministry further stated.

A 46-year old woman from Sri Lanka, Sasikala, entered Kerala’s Sabarimala temple on Thursday night, making it the second time women broke the faith barrier in the controversial hillshrine after the Supreme Court overturned the ban for women between the age group of 10 and 50 in the temple.

On Wednesday dawn, two women, Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga, had created history by entering the temple against the ban, igniting a firestorm of protests in Kerala that was marked by violence and arson on Thursday.

Reports of Sasikala’s visit has been speculated in the local media late night on Thursday, but the police officials on duty near the temple and a relative of Sasikala, speaking to reporters, had denied it. On Friday, the closed circuit camera visuals obtained by the local media suggested a woman’s spotting near the sanctum, assisted by two police officers in civilian dress.

The police have now confirmed that 46-year-old Sri Lankan woman, Sasikala, visited the Sabarimala temple, reported Hindustan Times. They said initially the news was denied as part of a strategy to ensure Sasikala’s safe return from the temple site.

Speaking to reporters, Sasikala had said that she is a devotee who has taken the ritualistic 41-day penance and cannot be stopped by anyone. She also presented reports to the police, proving to have undergone a uterus removal surgery, said local reports. The faith in Sabarimala holds menstruating women as impure. The visit has sparked protests near the temple, local reports said.

The development comes just as Kerala was limping back to normalcy after a day of heavy clashes between Sangh Parivar and Bharatiya Janata Party supported protestors stormed the state with violence over the temple entry, a move that resulted in violent clashes with the police and the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers, among others.

As of Friday morning, the police have arrested about 1369 protestors, in 801 cases and kept another 717 under preventive custody. The protests and the violence were largely subdued, but continued in parts of Kerala on Friday. In Adoor, about 50 houses, including those related to CPM workers, were vandalized by protestors, said local reports.

The controversy also reached Lok Sabha on Friday, where Congress and BJP parliamentarians attacked the ruling CPM government over facilitating women entry to Sabarimala while a review petition to reinstate the ban on women is pending before the Supreme Court.

(livemint)

Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to the United States Jaliya Wickramasuriya is likely to be offered a proffer agreement by US federal prosecutors this week, to spill the beans on the Government run by his cousin Mahinda Rajapaksa between 2005-2015, in exchange for leniency in money laundering and immigration fraud cases filed against him in Washington DC.

Wickremasuriya is expected to be offered a deal known as ‘Queen for a Day” in legal parlance, a process of transactional immunity, where an accused individual agrees to disclose knowledge of crimes committed by himself or others, to authorities with an implied assurance that said knowledge will not be used against them in later proceedings.

The Sunday Observer is said to have obtained emails exchanged between Wickramasuriya’s attorneys in the US and his counsel in Sri Lanka, revealing that US federal prosecutors were offering the former Ambassador a plea deal in exchange for information on the ‘Rajapaksa regime’. “They seem to want to use Mr. Wickramasuriya to initiate investigations into many others in the Sri Lankan Government, both former and current,” the email from an attorney of US based law firm Schertler & Onorato, calling itself a “first-tier law firm in Washington for white-collar and non-white-collar criminal defense states.”

Wickremasuriya’s lawyer in the US, claims in the email seen by Sunday Observer that he ‘would not go to jail’ in the US and believes the former Sri Lankan Ambassador would “benefit greatly” if he were to cooperate with US prosecutors against other high ranking and low ranking officials in Sri Lanka.

“Specifically, they wanted information what they called the Rajapaksa Regime and said they believed that this information was highly sensitive. They seem to want to use Mr. Wickramasuriya as a means to initiate investigation of many others in Sri Lankan government, both former and current,” the email from the US defense counsel to his Sri Lanka counterpart said.

Wickremasuriya’s lawyer in the US urges his client’s local counsel to “be discrete” on the matter, so the former diplomat “has an opportunity to provide information to the US authorities in exchange for leniency.” In his email, the Schertler & Onorato lawyer said he believed the US prosecutors would treat Wickramasuriya fairly if he were to cooperate.

Wickramasuriya is currently a fugitive from justice both in Sri Lanka and the US, where he holds residency status. He served as Sri Lanka’s Envoy to the US between 2008-2014.

He was indicted by the US District Court in the District of Columbia (Washington DC) on five counts, specifically two counts of money-laundering and two counts of wire fraud and one count of visa fraud violation by making false declarations in official US Government documentation.

In an unprecedented move in November 2018, US Government attorneys moved a motion in the District Court of DC to unseal the indictments against Jaliya Wickremasuriya, citing ‘recent change’ in the Government of Sri Lanka, following the controversial appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister on October 26, 2018. The motion to unseal Wickremasuriya’s indictment was filed in Washington DC, “in order to share the fact that the defendant has been indicted and the charges he faces with the Sri Lankan Government.”

In October 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sri Lanka formally waived the immunity Wickremasuriya held as Ambassador to the US until 2014, to facilitate the US Government investigation into the former Sri Lankan Envoy for embezzlement and laundering of public funds in connection with a controversial 2013 Sri Lankan Embassy purchase. In March 2018, Wickremasuriya challenged the Ministry’s right to waive his immunity, in the Court of Appeal which dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.

US authorities appeared to have been concerned that the dubious transfer of power in Sri Lanka in October last year could result in a re-assertion of Wickremasuriya’s diplomatic immunity by his cousin, the controversially installed new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. However, their fears were ultimately unfounded, as neither President Sirisena nor then Prime Minister Rajapaksa made any attempt to interfere with the diplomatic immunity affair.

Foreign Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam had informed the court that the decision to withdraw diplomatic immunity was taken by President Sirisena, which tied the hands of the appellate court, since decisions of the President in his official capacity may only be contested in the Supreme Court. A further appeal is currently pending at the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

The former ambassador’s assertion of diplomatic immunity was rendered moot, according to officials briefed on the matter, when Wickramasuriya himself signed a form waiving his own immunities as a condition for reactivating his green card. (Sunday Observer)

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday said inter-governmental body Financial Action Task Force has called on its members to take steps to protect the financial system from threats emanating from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 

According to the top bank, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have been included in a list of nations with “strategic deficiencies” in their approach towards anti-money laundering measures and the crackdown on financing of terrorism. 

The inter-governmental organisation said Sri Lanka has taken steps since November 2017 to meet its demands. 

“Sri Lanka should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by enhancing risk-based supervision high-risk Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession, including through prompt and dissuasive enforcement actions and sanctions, as appropriate; and demonstrating effective implementation of its targeted financial sanctions obligations related to proliferation financing,” the statement said. 

The Financial Action Task Force, set up in 1989, works to stop money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the international financial system. The task force has listed the Bahamas, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Serbia, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen as other countries that need to crack down on money laundering and terror financing.

The first test run on the newly constructed Matara - Beliatta train took place today. (06) The train was set off on its journey at 10am from Matara to Beliatta by Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Arjuna Ranatunga.
 
The track is the first phase of the railway track that is being constructed from Matara to Kataragama. Matara to Kataragama track is 26 km long and is the first phase of the new railway track.

Two European Union Parliamentary Members, Lord William Dartmouth and Hon. Geoffrey Van Orden, who visited Sri Lanka as members of the “Friends of Sri Lanka Group”, paid a courtesy call on the Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera at the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

Discussions had focused on matters of mutual interests and both parties had agreed to enhance bilateral trade and tourism cooperation.

Samaraweera also said that they further explored ways and means of maximizing benefits for Sri Lanka under the European Union’s GSP+ trade facility.